To achieve a good intuitive understanding of the 2012 phenomenon, we have to understand three key principles:

1) The nature and laws of self-creation;
2) The nature of consciousness; and
3) The evolution of consciousness.

When we arrive at an understanding of these principles, we see that a singularity of consciousness is rapidly approaching which will leave this planet unrecognizable to us from our current perspectives.

This is a global transformation of consciousness. Central to appreciating this global transformation is the understanding that the worlds of space, time and matter, and of self and other, are reflections of the fear and love in our own consciousness. It does not matter what happens in the world outside us. What matters is the choice we make over our own innerstate of being in the face of anything we might normally label "good" or "bad."

December 21st, 2012, as per the current Gregorian calendar, has long been prophesied as a Shift of the Ages. There have been many archaeologists, researchers and writers who have explored what this might mean, as there appears to be some correlation between many separate civilizations that around this time, great changes will take place on Earth.

Much of the speculation has been interpreted with fear, but of course it is in the unknown that our fears reside. What has been missing from most of the speculation is a basic understanding of the nature of ultimate reality itself, and life in particular.

Again, a complete transformation of consciousness is rapidly approaching. In fact, we are accelerating towards it, but it cannot be understood from the perspective of what we might call "separation consciousness." When we come to understand the process of how something creates itself from nothing, and that over time it becomes ever more aware of itself, things start to become a little clearer.

One has to follow one's own path to understanding how all of space, time, matter and consciousness unfolds itself according to the mathematical laws of Sacred Geometry. As we pursue this path of understanding, we see that pure unity, which must be subjective (i.e., conscious), relates back to itself to become ever more complex and self-aware.

Consciousness is the experience of being, and is primary to all existence. All that exists is simply All-That-Is, and there is nothing else. It is one whole of which there is nothing else, composed of many individual parts which increase in number the further we perceive along the timeline of evolution. Each individual element, however, is All-That-Is expressing itself as a part. Creation is holographic. Each part is also the whole at the same time.

As an example, if we take a huge mirror, capable of reflecting all of infinite reality, and smash it into six billion fragments, what do we have? Six billion smaller mirrors each also capable of reflecting all of infinite reality. Using this analogy we can conceive how each of us as individuals is All-That-Is blinded by a veil of consciousness. That veil is now lifting.

The Greek word for "lifting the veil" is "Apocalypse." As the veil lifts on our consciousness, we become ever more aware that each of us is indeed All-That-Is, and therefore there is no separation in space, time or consciousness between us. We are all individuated aspects of the one creative Being that exists, intimately linked through consciousness, and each is as much a creator of reality as that which created us.

What of the timing of this great transformation? Why is 2012 important? The Maya had many calendars, but what is a calendar? A calendar is a timeline of cycles. The Gregorian calendar is a timeline of the cycles of the sun and moon, a solar and lunar calendar. One of the calendars the Maya used was the Tzolkin, a 260-day personal calendar, a count of which has been accurately kept for two and a half thousand years. The Tzolkin maps out the cycling energies of the cosmos on each of these 260 days. (To be clear, the Maya also had a 360-day calendar called the Tun [pronounced "toon"], but there does not appear to be anything external to us which cycles at 360-day periods or multiples thereof.)

Around 1998 Swedish scientist Carl Calleman worked out that that the Tun calendar is a timeline of the cycles of creation. While the cycles of the sun and moon stay fairly constant over billions of years, creation speeds up. Evolution is a process whereby offspring transcend while incorporating their progenitors' previous qualities. According to Mayan time notation as decoded by Dr. Calleman, there are nine distinct cycles of creation, nine different frequencies, each one twenty times faster than the last--demonstrating that evolution does indeed accelerate.

The information that made possible these observations comes from the Coba Stone found in central Mexico in the mid-Twentieth Century which had time periods carved into it ranging from a single day (or "kin") to billions of multiples of the age of the universe. Apparently, the Maya only had names for the most recent nine cycles, all of which had a "13" symbol beside them. Their longest time period of 1.2 billion years, called a Hablatun, suggests they realized this universe created itself some 16.4 billion years ago. This is close to the current estimate of around 14 billion years made by astrophysicists based on current models of physics, which are by no means complete. The chart below is an illustrative sketch of the timeline of the evolution of consciousness on Earth based on Calleman's model.

This diagram is not particularly self-explanatory, but when examined in detail, it allows each of us to verify that we are in a kind of cosmic gestation period, and about to be "reborn." By the end of all the cycles of creation, the veil will fully lift and all human beings will stand naked in front of each other with nothing to hide and nothing to fear. In a world without fear, we will find out what it really means to be human--which is to exist in full conscious creatorship (or co-creatorship).

But this is still all concept, simply a tool to placate the rational mind, the ego. In fact, the future is of no real relevance. There is only one time and place, subjectively speaking, and that is here and now. Perhaps this information can convince our minds that all is well, that this great transformation is set to happen very soon, and that nothing can (or should) stop it. Beyond this, what is truly important is how we are going to be in each present moment as we accelerate towards a very unfamiliar future, which paradoxically also represents our journey "home."

The closer we get to the "singularity" around 2012, the faster time will appear to move. Actually, time still runs at sixty minutes per hour; it is creation that is speeding up. More and more is being created in a given time period. Within a mere three years from now, creation will have ramped up another twenty times faster.

From our limited human perspective, without any context, this could be extremely stressful, if not terrifying. We can imagine ourselves standing on a huge wheel which is getting faster and faster. The further we are from the center of the wheel, the harder it will be to hold our position, until we are clinging to the rim by our fingernails.

Obviously, the only place to be is right in the center of the wheel. At the center it does not matter how fast the wheel turns; we remain still and undisturbed. Spiritual practice is all about getting to the center of the wheel.

The only way to prepare for the monumental shift is to conquer our fears and master our emotions. Then, and only then, will we truly be free--and only then can we consciously and joyously participate in this, the most amazing adventure we've been waiting billions of years to complete. The way I choose to participate is to bring greater peace to the hearts and minds of everybody whose lives I touch. Peace of mind comes as we eliminate our fears. In the absence of fear, what is left is love.

Fear is the emotion created by the thought that we may not be able to have something we think we need, or that we might lose something we have that we think we need. Every thought is based on a belief, and as it happens, most of our beliefs are mistaken. By examining the belief behind any particular fear, and seeing how mistaken that belief actually is, the fear is eliminated.

As an example, many of our external fears stem from a belief that there is not enough of what we need to make us happy, such as material resources of food, fuel, shelter, and clothing. In fact, Earth is the Garden of Eden and can produce all the resources humans need many times over when we work together in loving cooperation.

We also have one deeper, darker fear that lurks in most hearts: that there is not enough love to go around! Six billion of us are terrified of judgment with very few of us ever feeling unconditionally loved by anyone. Humankind has lived in this kind of fear and separation for over five thousand years. That time is almost over, but in the intervening days, weeks, months and years, what can we do to address it?

The simple truth of how to prepare for the coming shift in consciousness is to walk the path of truth and love. Share your own vulnerability with others so that they may know they have nothing to hide or fear from you. The greatest gift one can give another is to show that there is nothing that person needs to be, do or have in order to be unconditionally loved by you. This is the path forward.

Anthony Goodman has been on a path of understanding the nature of consciousness for over twenty-five years. As well as presenting talks and workshops, Anthony also offers one-on-one Spiritual Coaching and freedom of mind through PSYCH-K (Psychology-Kinesiology, a set of simple techniques for reprogramming the limiting and self-sabotaging beliefs of the subconscious mind). Anthony can be contacted through his website https://www.agoodman.org.